A Championship Battle
by LordoftheJynx
Summary: It's the final round of the Johto Silver Cup championship - with an elite psychic trainer and granddaughter of the region's first female elite four member going head to head. Features underused pokemon including Tropius, Jynx and Slowking. Heavy emphasis on battles. This story is finished, I'm just posting it in installments.


In the center of the arena, the behemoth Snorlax was collapsed. Limbs sprawled out, he was fast asleep; his deafening snores booming through the arena. Jack, the pokemon's teenaged trainer from Olivine, gritted his teeth angrily, praying his pokemon would wake up in time. He was battling one of his best friends, but she certainly didn't hold back for friendship sake.

"Persephone, eat his dreams!" the opposing trainer commanded with a grin. Her name was Ophelia, one of the most ferocious trainers in all of Johto.

Her official battle record was 107-12, but her statistics couldn't begin to reflect her power. She came from a long line of powerful female trainers. Her grandmother Rainey Zaparto was the first woman in the Kanto-Johto Elite Four. Ophelia trained high attack, bulky pokemon, rather than the grass and water pokemon other female trailers generally specialized in.

But she made an exception for her Jynx, her very first pokemon. The glacial psychic grinned like her trainer. Brushing back strands of long blonde hair with a single purple finger, the Jynx pointed toward her gluttonous foe's head. Her eyes became milky white and her hair stood on its ends as she burst into a purple aura.

The Snorlax started to groan in agony as the Jynx forced a line of grey matter from his head into hers. She was devouring his dreams and making them her own. His mind couldn't bear the assault…

"Snorlax is unable to battle! The winner of the round, and proceeding to the Johto Silver Cup Finals is Ophelia Hardwell!"

Moments after Ophelia was declared victorious, the other Semifinal round drew to a close.

"NO! Alakazam!" cried Prava Battacharya, one of the best Psychic trainers in the entire country.

The king of Psychics came tumbling down in a burst of purple and black. Standing proudly above him, a witch-like shadowy figure cackled and waved her arm around the fallen psychic's body, reading how much life force her opponent had left.

The Alazakazam, covered in residual dark energy from the last attack, struggled to rise to his knees.

"End him."

Miles Bloodsworth rarely spoke during a battle. His pokemon were so well trained they often knew what to do without his command. But when he did spoke, his voice was very low, but cold and deadly. He rarely took part in the glitz and glammer of an elite trainer's life. He was reclusive, spending most of his time with his pokemon.

His Mismagius gave another cackle and lifted her arm towards the Alakazam's heart. A jet of green light flew from her hand and struck the Alakazam's chest head on. The psychic sighed a little "oh" and fell on his face.

"Alakazam is unable to battle. With an unprecedented three pokemon remaining and going into the Finals, the winner of the battle is Miles Bloodsworth!

"To Ophelia!"

"TO OPHELIA!"

"Shut the hell up, you idiots!"

The four friends took a generous swig of their beer. On the night before the Final round, it was nothing but the best for them. Ophelia gave a rare smirk as she slammed her bottle on the bar table. It was packed with tournament contestants, some drinking their sorrows away, some just celebrating the end of another good season.

With her hat and glasses, Ophelia had faded into the background. But her friends had given her identity away. And now the other people in the bar started to whisper and point excitedly.

They finished their Xangoose Island (although Whitney had opted for a glass of milk instead) and stood up. "Let's blow this joint. I should probably start preparing."

They headed back to their PokeCenter to get down to business. It was late at night, but they still had plenty of work against him. Ophelia was joined by her friends (and former opponents) Jack, Whitney, and Bugsy. This was their second time competing in the Silver Cup. The year before, they all lost in the fourth round, finishing in the Sweet 16. But after much hard training, one of their own had a chance of taking first place.

"Oh Ophie! That's Bloodsworth creep is a tough one. He's the one that got me out in the fifth round! He's a beast," Bugsy warned as he scanned through months of data on his laptop.

"I swear to Celebi, if you call me that one more time, I'm going to rip your nuts off with a spoon," Ophelia growled, trying to read a passage in a book about Paralysis-countering techniques.

"This kid beat Prava Battacharya with three pokemon left! That's unheard of in the semifinals! He hasn't even used that damn Slowking of his since Round 3," Jack muttered. He was disappointed having lost to Ophelia earlier, but he put that aside and devoted all his energy to helping her win the Championship. After all, if she was good enough to beat him, she had to be able to beat anyone.

"Now ya'll let's stop freaking Ophelia out, you know she's good enough to clobber that weirdo," Whitney said with a grin.

"Let's stay sportsman-like guys…" Ophelia muttered under her breath. She closed her large book with a sigh and looked at the other huge pile of books with disgust. "That's it, I'm not studying anymore."

Her friends looked at her in shock, Bugsy opened his mouth to protest but Ophelia cut him off before he could begin.

"I nearly lost in Round Four again because I tried to analyze my opponent's team too much. If there's one thing I learned, it's not these that makes or break a big battle," Ophelia said pointing to the pile of books and Bugsy's laptop. "It's all about intuition and thinking on your feet. I'm not going to devise any grand strategy in advance. My pokemon are strong. They can do this."

"Well said, but you really should think about his Slowking…it won the MVP award for the entire tournament last year! It's undefeated you know! But I think I figured out his weakness…apparently—"

"Dude, she's gone," Jack interjected. Bugsy looked up pushing his glasses back to his eyes. Whitney and Jack laughed at him.

Ophelia went to one of the largest rooms in the PokeCenter where her ten strongest pokemon were waiting, free from their pokeballs. They perked their heads up in excitement. She walked among them and started to grin. Her Jynx came up to her and gave her a hug as always.

"Guys, this is what these seven years have been leading up to. We're close to being ranked as the best team in the entire state. We're already guaranteed a spot in the National Tournament!" She started to touch each of her pokemon individually, ruffling the silly ones' heads and patting others on the back. She moved toward her Machamp who picked her up and put her on his shoulders.

"We're so close. I know a lot of people would be grinding your noses into the ground right now. I don't want to do that. We've gotten this far. We're good enough to take it all. I'm so proud of where all of you are. Now, let's get a good night of sleep!"

In another room in the PokeCenter, Miles Bloodsworth sat Indian-style with his pokemon. Eyes closed. Dead silence. They were meditating deeply, honing their minds and their powers for the day ahead of them. Abruptly his eyes shot open and he stood up. He turned around and looked at his team and gave them a curt nod before leaving the room.

As he left the room, Ophelia was leaving her room. She paused for a moment and smiled at him. But Miles kept on walking.

"Where's Ophelia?" screamed Jack.

It was fresh and early at 6 in the morning, and Ophelia was nowhere in sight. It wasn't entirely surprising; she had the tendency to do things like that.

"I don't know! When I woke up, she was already gone!" mumbled Whitney, who was still in her pajamas and half-sleepy.

"But I need to talk to her! I just read about this perfect ParaFuse strategy that's bound to…"

"SHUT UP, BUGSY!"

Ophelia was already in the stadium, two hours ahead of time. She sat in a random stadium seat leaning back and resting her legs on the chairs ahead of her. She looked at the thousands of empty seats in the stadium with a half-grin. Her stomach never felt more twisted in her life, but of course, she didn't show it on her face.

On her lap, were ten pokeballs. Her ten battlers. The hardest choice was which six she would take into the final battle—they all deserved it. For hours, she was debating within her head what her Championship party. Finally, she thought of the best strategy.

She set aside her Jynx's pokeball, and lined up her remaining nine.

"Eeeny—meany—miny—mo"

_Five minutes before the Championship Battle_

"Oh my GOD! I'm so excited! This is going to be one of the BEST championship battles EVER!" Heather Bergeron was the organizer of the Silver Cup tournament, which she won five years ago. Although Ophelia and Miles had pretty different personalities, they could be united in their hatred of Heather.

"You two are two of the BEST trainers I have EVER seen. If only we could have like…joint-champions. Because you two would completely deserve it."

An anger vein was slowly throbbing in Ophelia's temple. Miles continued to stare blankly into space. Ophelia suspected he was able to go deaf at will.

"So remember that this is going to be your standard 6 on 6 battle. The rules and limits that governed your quarter and semifinal rounds are GONE, GONE, GONE! Anything goes! Well, within reason, but still, it's a true test of your skills!"

Heather gave an excited squeal and pulled out some brochures from her pocket and handed it to the two competitors.

"So let me remind you what the perks of winning are! Not only do BOTH of you get to represent Johto in the National Tournament—but the Champion gets a full-ride scholarship to the PokeUniversity. 9 out of 10 of the past champions, myself included, have gone on to be members of the Elite Pokemon Trainers League. You get $10,000 in prize money, a full pokeball set courtesy of our dear Kurt, you get a special pass that allows you in areas restricted only to the best pokemon trainers in the world—it's all right here in this brochure that I made—see look!"

They were gone.

It was the perfect morning for a battle. Cloudy but warm. Every seat in the stadium that Ophelia spent the morning gazing at was filled with locals, citizens from all over Johto (and even other regions!), and some of the most notable people in the Pokemon World: Professor Oak and Elm, all 8 Johto gym leaders, heads of different battle leagues and research organizations, and it was even rumored members of the Elite Four were watching.

Ophelia and Miles got into their respective booths at either end of the stadium. They elevated instantly. The referee got into the center of the arena holding both a red and blue flag. The massive black speakers mounted on the different corners of the stadium began to boom.

"Good morning, Johto! This is Buena from Station 10.5, and today I will be you're commentator for the Championship Battle of the Silver Cup Tournament."

She was immediately drowned out by the raucous cheers of the crowd. They were antsy to watch a good battle.

"On the West Side we have Ophelia Hardwell of Goldenrod City. The granddaughter of former Elite Four member Rainey Zaparto and ranked by Trainer Monthly as having the most powerhouse team in all of Johto!"

More cheers, the loudest coming from the West Dugout where Jack, Whitney and Bugsy watched Ophelia.

"On the East Side, we have Miles Bloodsworth of Ecruteak City. Although he's quiet one, he made history by being the youngest trainer to ever be admitted into the Psychic Academy at the mere age of twelve! His Slowking is the only undefeated pokemon in this entire league!"

Although the cheers were a lot softer, a large section of the stadium applauded gently in unison.

"Let the battle begin!"

"Pinsir! Go!" cried Ophelia.

"Qwilfish, begin," said Miles.

The field was a smooth wooden surface with a small pool in the center. A beam of white light materialized in the center of the pool. A volleybally-sized perfectly round blue and white fish pokemon bobbed up and down in the blue tides. Jagged points with venom dripping at their ends jutted out from every inch of the Qwilfish's body.

In the middle of the field, Ophelia's Pinsir was summoned, a menacing brown insect with two large spiked horns that clicked together threateningly. His eyes locked with his opponent's and they both began to growl and hiss at each other—attempting to out intimidate each other. His mouth started to froth slightly with jagged clicking at each other.

"Mark your territory," Miles ordered.

"Dodge with Swords Dance!" retorted Ophelia.

Qwilfish swallowed dozens of gallons of water and inflated to ten times his size. It started to bob back and forth until his mouth faced the bottom of the pool. The water he swallowed exploded from his throat at seventy miles an hour, and the force sent hundreds of venomous needles from his body all over the stadium field.

The Pinsir began to leap around the stadium, twirling and pirouetting his arms and horns as he fled the barrage of venomous needles trying to bring him down. It would almost look like ballet if it wasn't a terrifying bug pokemon doing it. After a while, the Qwilfish returned to its normal size and the Pinsir landed onto new ground, glistening with pumped up power.

Ophelia's brow furrowed as she noticed the entire stadium field was covered in sharp, poisonous needles. This made moving around a lot more difficult and her offensive considerably more challenging. But as she tried to plan her next move, the Qwilfish attacked.

It inflated with water again and pumped several dozen gallons of water directly towards the Pinsir's chest. The beast instinctively leaped out of the way, and landed on a particularly sharp needle. He keeled over in pain, but he had no time to be in pain.

"Get 'em in the water! There's no poison in there!" Ophelia shouted.

Pinsir jumped up into the air and dove down towards its rapidly deflating opponent. He caught the fish in between its spiky horns and started to squeeze. The poisonous fish cried in pain but exploded into a deep purple poisonous ink. Pinsir immediately let go started to thrash wildly in the now toxic water. The Qwilfish started to ram the bug repeatedly, recovering quickly from the attack.

"Uh-oh! Ophelia is in trouble! The entire stadium is covered in poisonous traps, perhaps it's time for her to call it quits!"

"Get him out of the water!"

The Pinsir gritted its teeth and as the Qwilfish went into tackle him underwater once again, the Pinsir grabbed the Qwilfish by its tail and swung it around in circles before tossing it out of the pool and onto the field.

The fish started to flail madly as it landed on the field without any water to breathe in. Pinsir leaped from the pool onto a patch of ground free of needles, hacking and coughing as much poison out of his system as possible.

Miles Bloodsworth stared blankly at his suffering pokemon with no response. The Pinsir leaped at the fish and dove in for the final blow.

"Qwilfish is unable to battle! Pinsir is the victor!"

Miles recalled his pokemon and sent out another without a single thought or hesitation.

The light began to materialize on the field floor. At first, there was nothing there except a large black shadow on the ground. Then the shadow began to rise and formed into a large black witch-like ghost.

"Magggggeeeeee!"

"This is unexpected! Miles has sent out one of his most powerful pokemon already—a Mismagius that won him the Semifinals!"

The ghost floated into the air and glared at Pinsir who rose up, wincing in pain from the poison going through his system. He had nowhere to move because of the toxic spikes that covered the stadium. His levitating opponent didn't have to worry about them.

Before Ophelia could even act, Miles knew what she wanted to do.

"Keep him here."

The Mismagius's eyes turned large and white and Pinsir began to glow with a dark energy. The Mean Look had trapped him. Ophelia could not call him back. He was the perfect target.

"Pinsir, Earthquake!"

Pinsir held its fists high into the air and used every drop of power he had as he punched the ground which began to tremble violently. Soon, the tremors filled the entire field, the water from the pool splashed like waves; weak parts of the field broke open. While all this happened, the Mismagius simply floated in the air and laughed, unfazed by the Earth attack.

"The attack had no effect on Mismagius! OH! I see what she did! The Pinsir is now able to move around in the cracks of the stadium that are completely spike-free!"

And Pinsir started to jump onto the cracks getting closer to the ghost that continued to eye him eerily. Finally, he lunged for the ghost with his horns ready to cut it in two. But Mismagius vanished into a puff of black hair and Pinsir landed on his belly, right into a pile of spiky needles.

As he struggled to get up, the Mismagius reappeared in front of him. Her eyes became yellow this time and a deep golden sphere appeared in front of her. With a nod of her head, the sphere flew right into the Pinsir's chest. The bug went flying back, landing on another pile of sharp needles.

"Pinsir's attack missed—but Mismagius got em square in the chest with a Power Gem! Oh Ophelia trained this Pinsir to be a trooper, he's standing up and he's ready for more!"

He stood up huffing and puffing, drained from the poisoning and the blow.

"Pinsir, use the field again, Rock Slide!"

With considerably less power than his Earthquake, Pinsir slammed the ground around him. Four large chunks of the field went hurling towards the ghost whose eyes turned a bright green. Out of nowhere a flurry of small green leaves, tinged with an eerie pink, appeared in mid-air around Mismagius. She nodded her head again and the leaves shot towards the rocks. The magical leaves sliced each stone in two with deathly precision, and they fell to the ground uselessly.

Pinsir gave a look of horror and disbelief before falling to his hands and knees. He gave a great gasp for air and collapsed, succumbing to his strong poisoning.

"Pinsir is unable to battle! Mismagius is the winner!"

"Pinsir wasn't able to land a single blow on his opponent. And Ms. Hardwell still has to deal with a field completely covered in poison! Can she get herself out of this rut?"

"Oh you betcha," Ophelia mumbled sarcastically as she grabbed her next pokeball.


End file.
